Page 25 of Brendan (The Doherty Mafia)
“Sure, Rosalie. I’m not interested in your son. I’m interested in what you can do for me. For us.”
“Who are you? Who is us? What is this about?” I lost my breath as I forced the words out. By now it was clear this had nothing to do with Brendan or the Dohertys.
He opened his mouth to speak but then looked over my shoulder into the distance. The expression on his face changed. When I turned around, I saw Brendan in the crowd. He hadn’t spotted me yet, but he was looking around the crowded bar. Clearly, he was looking for me.
When I turned back the man was already leaving.
“Where are you going? What is this?”
“We’ll be in touch. In the meantime, keep this meeting to yourself. For your own good, and for the sake of your son,” he said.
He was gone before I could reply.
I stood up, staring at him as he disappeared into the crowd. My hands shook. In fact, I was shaking all over. He hadn’t given me an explanation. Why did he leave so suddenly? Because he saw Brendan? Because he knew Brendan was there to see me?
I was lost in thought as Brendan approached me. It didn’t take him long to spot me.
“Rosalie, we need to talk,” he said. There was determination marking his face.
I was annoyed with him. He’d ruined everything—once again.
“I have to get back to work. You shouldn’t be here. I don’t have time.” I made clipped remarks as I tried hurrying away from him.
“Okay, I’ll wait until your shift is over. Right here. I’m not going anywhere.” With that, he sat down in the chair that was occupied by the other man just moments ago.
I didn’t know how to get rid of Brendan, and there was a part of me that didn’t even want to be rid of him. The part of me which felt safer because he was around.
Whether Brendan was directly connected with the man who was following me, or not—his presence had driven him away and that was a relief.
Fourteen
Brendan
I waited two hours at that damn bar for Rosalie to finish her shift.
I expected more of a dramatic reaction from her. I thought she would make a scene and force me to leave. I even expected security to be called. But I was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery tonight.
I wasn’t going to be able to forget about her or move on with my daily life until she told me exactly what she had seen in me that was so revolting to her.
Maybe it was just an excuse to keep seeing her and being close to her.
If it was, I wasn’t about to admit that to myself.
I kept an eye on her as she worked. I saw the way people warmed to her. The way men looked at her. She didn’t even know she was being watched by so many people at that place.
It was pretty obvious to me that she didn’t think very highly of herself. Maybe she viewed herself as just another ordinary girl. But she was far from that.
I felt rage every time she walked up to a group of rowdy drunk assholes who hit on her. I wanted to pull them off her. Hurt them and make them bleed.
But she didn’t belong to me.
She had made it very clear that she would never belong to me.
Her shift was eventually over. I thought she would make a run for the door to get away from me, but instead, she found me at the table I’d spent the night watching her.
“Wow, you’re pretty determined, aren’t you?” she said. Was this the first time I saw her smile? It sure felt like it.
“And you must be drunk because you’re not verbally assaulting me tonight,” I replied.
Rosalie chuckled, rolling her eyes.
“I guess you could say I’m glad to see you because I know you’ve got my back. I felt especially vulnerable tonight and having you here made me feel a little better.”
I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her.
She had no idea how badly I wanted to keep her safe, if she would just let me.
“Anyway, you said you wanted to talk to me. About what?” she asked.
“Last night things ended abruptly. I wasn’t expecting to find your son in your apartment,” I said.
“Yes, that is where he lives.”
She smiled at that and I had to smile too.
“We didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation.”
“What do you want from me, Brendan?” she asked calmly.
“The truth. I know you’re not pushing me away because you don’t want to fuck me. You want it as much as I do. So what is the real reason? You know me from somewhere, don’t you?” I said.
Rosalie looked around nervously, then drew in a deep breath.
“Will you walk me home?” she asked.
